Georgia & Armenia 2024 Day 14: Mestia To Tbilisi

Sunday, January 26, 2025

Georgia & Armenia 2024 Day 14: Mestia To Tbilisi

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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Georgia-Armenia 2024 Day 14: Mestia To Tbilisi

Georgia-Armenia 2024 Day 14: 30th September (Monday)

Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Georgia & Armenia:
Day 14 - Mestia to Tbilisi:
Mestia (Margiansha House)>Lukhi>Terjola>Dadiani Palace>Skra>Svetitskhoveli Cathedral>Surami>Tbilisi (Golden Ir-me_ni Hotel)>walk>Holy Trinity Cathedral>Baratashvili Bridge>Orbeliani Square>Golden Ir-me_ni Hotel.

This is page 14 of a 15-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D13: Koruldi Lakes | Go to Other Days | D15: Kuala Lumpur >

Route recommendations, here're some tips on travelling from Mestia to Tbilisi:

1. Traffic Directions!

Driving in Georgia is left-hand drive, with a speed limit of 60 km/h in cities and towns, and 80 km/h in other areas unless indicated otherwise. Armenia is also left-hand drive, so in both Georgia and Armenia drive/cycle on the right.

2. Immigration & Customs Requirements

For Georgia, citizens of Malaysia do not need a visa to enter for travel purposes and can stay in the country for 365 days without a visa. The travel passport must be valid throughout the whole period of stay in Georgia. A blank page is necessary for an entry stamp. Click here for a list of countries that need visa entry. Click here for the Georgia E-visa application portal and click here for guidelines on the E-visa application which costs USD20 (30 days validity).

For both countries, after clearing immigration, one will have to go through customs. We had to carry our luggage personally through. They are green lanes for those with nothing to declare; for duty-free good exemption, click here for Georgia's regulations, and here for Armenia's. Our vans had to go through the vehicles' lanes.

For those bringing in personal medication (up to 31 days usage) into Georgia, do get a prescription from your doctor; click here for guidelines.

3. Getting to and around Georgia & Armenia.

Major airlines serve both Georgia & Armenia. We flew from KLIA Terminal 1 into and out of Shota Rustaveli Tbilisi International Airport via Qatar Airways, with transit at Doha. It would have been time-saving into Armenia via Yerevan's Zvartnots International Airport; but we naively erred on the side of caution. Our airfares were bought during the MATA Travel Fair via promotions by the RHB Debit Card, the return fare cost us between MYR 2,800 to 3,200.
We got around both countries by using a local long-chassis Mercedes Sprinter Van with an extended rear luggage section for the 16 of us, and a Mercedes V-Class 7-seater van for another four of us who enlisted later. The rides were generally comfortable as most were on tarred roads with some stretches of gravel roads.
For harsher rides we used smaller local vans with drivers familiar to the rougher, steeper roads - this was to the Gergeti Trinity Church, Ushguli Village, Koruldi Lakes and Chalaadi Glacier.

There were a couple of free days to explore Tbilisi by ourselves, but it is possible to use the Uber Georgia app to get further around. Other ride-hailing alternatives are Bolt, Yandex and Taxi Maxim.

4. Places & Things of Interest

Enroute were several places of interest, some of which we visited and others we did not for lack of time (Note: click on GPS coordinates for a directional map to respective places):
a. Patara-Enguri/Nenskra River Confluence (GPS: 42.95993, 42.19564) along the Patara-Enguri River.

b. Dadiani Palace Park (GPS: 42.51114, 41.87366).
c. Dadiani Palace Museum (დადიანების სასახლე) (GPS: 42.51209, 41.87394).
d. Zugdidi St. Virgin Mary of Vlacherna Temple (ვლაქერნის ღვთისმშობლის ტაძარი) (GPS: 42.51213, 41.8747).
e. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (სვეტიცხოვლის საკათედრო ტაძარი) (GPS: 41.84222, 44.72095).
f. Svetitskhoveli Street Market (GPS: 41.84176, 44.72028).
g. Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi (თბილისის სამების საკათედრო ტაძარი) (GPS: 41.69765, 44.81645).

h. Old Tbilisi (ძველი თბილისი) (GPS:41.69545, 44.79628).
i. Nikoloz Baratashvili Bridge (ნიკოლოზ ბარათაშვილის ხიდი) (GPS: 41.69687, 44.80838).
j. Baratashvili Bridge Bronze Statues (ბარათაშვილის ხიდის ბრინჯაოს ქანდაკებები) (GPS: 41.69674, 44.80806).
k. Street Art @ Baratashvili Bridge Underpass (GPS: 41.69715, 44.80965) at the staircases leading down to the Baratashvili Bridge Pedestrain Underpass.

5. Food

a. Breakfast: Pre-packed take-away from Margiansha House, eaten at Restaurant Tobari (GPS: 42.95966, 42.19633) at the Patara-Enguri/Nenskra River Confluence near Lukhi.

b. Morning Tea: Take-away Nazuki Sweet Bread from Nazuki by Sergo stall (სერგოს ნაზუქი) (GPS: 42.02729, 43.55661) near Surami.
c. Lunch: at Way Mart Skra (ვეი მარტი) (GPS: 42.01661, 44.0254) near Skra.
d. Dinner: Japanese/Asian at Ramekai @ Orbeliani (GPS: 41.69826, 44.80257) in Orbeliani Square, Tbilisi.

6. Accommodations

One night at Golden Ir-me_ni (GPS: 41.69314, 44.81866) in Tbilisi. This cost was included in the overall ground arrangements.

7. Tour Costs & Arrangements

Return air tickets bought during the MATA Travel Fair/RHB Debit Card promotions were between MYR 2,800 to 3,200.

The ground arrangements tour package included a 10-passenger van to take us around, starting from & returning to Tbilisi. It also included 3-star hotels/homestays. The charge per pax for this ground arrangement was at MYR7,400. This excluded meals (other than hotel breakfasts & 3 dinners at Mestia), airport transfers, most entry tickets and tips. This allows for individuals to have meals according to their own liking & budget. Allow per meal should be adequate.

On average, the overall tour cost worked out to be around RM950 to RM1,000 per day. For those interested in this tour, contact Eddie at +6012-6122600 for more details and updated costs.

For out-of-pocket spending, we exchange some Georgian Lari (GEL) and Armenian Dram (AMD) in the respective countries. Some brought along their Wise debit cards to use; one can pre-load the card with the local currency. Or let it auto-deduct the currencies existing in the card. We found that it deducted other currencies first before deducting Malaysian Ringgit.

8. Communicating with Each Other

When travelling in a group it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest. Georgia pre-paid sim cards are easily available and cost 5 GEL to 20 GEL, depending on the provider and the included benefits. While Armenian pre-paid SIM cards range from AMD 1000 to AMD 3000. Those in our tour group pre-ordered their SIM cards through our Georgian guide.

Those who use Maxis as their telco can purchase the Maxis Roaming Pass. The RM89 15-day Multi-country Roaming Pass covers many countries including Georgia, Armenia and Qatar.
The Pass can be bought before the trip with a designated starting time/date, BUT DO TURN OFF your data roaming just before the Roaming Pass expires OTHERWISE any subsequent usage will automatically trigger off the 1-Day Roaming Pass costing between RM29 to RM38 per day!

9. Communicating with Locals

At favourite tourist destinations, locals may speak fairly good English. In the smaller towns, locals speak some rudimentary English, and our local guide was most helpful in translating for us.

10. Weather

The average day temperature at Mestia were 22°C. The average night temperature at Tbilisi was 9°C.

Useful weather forecast sites for Georgia & Armenia is AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.

11. Navigation

I used MapMyRide to track our routes and stops. Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook or Google Maps.

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PRELUDE

Yesterday, from Mestia we went up to the scenic Koruldi Lakes, and later for a hike to the Chalaadi Glacier at the foothills of Mt. Ushba. We ended the day with a grand dinner which included the delicious Georgian Roast Piglet at Margiansha House.

Today, we say goodbye to the highlands and head back to Tbilisi, along the way we will visit a palace and a cathedral. We will stay in Tbilisi for a night before flying back home the following day.

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DAY 14: MESTIA TO TBILISI

Guided Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Georgia & Armenia:

Day 14 - Mestia to Tbilisi:
Mestia (Margiansha House)>Lukhi>Terjola>Dadiani Palace>Skra>Svetitskhoveli Cathedral>Surami>Tbilisi (Golden Ir-me_ni Hotel)>walk>Holy Trinity Cathedral>Baratashvili Bridge>Orbeliani Square>Golden Ir-me_ni Hotel.

(Click here for the Georgia-Armenia Day 14: Mestia-Tbilisi Route Map)

Most posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post for more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out from your Facebook first)

6:00am - We had gotten up for an early start today (chilly morning too, at 7°C) as we have a five-hundred-kilometre drive ahead, from Mestia to Tbilisi.
Margiansha House kitchen staff had woke up even earlier, to prepare pre-packed breakfast for us to bring along.

A couple of hours later near Lukhi, we stopped at Restaurant Tobari to have our pre-packed breakfast, with orders of coffee from the shop. It was a simple but adequate package of Georgian Ossetian meatballs, (quite authentic as it came with a thick stick of cucumber salad and hard-boiled eggs), a sponge cake and a spring roll.

So far from Mestia, we had been travelling along the Zugdidi-Jvari-Mestia-Lasdili secondary road which goes along the. Just opposite Restaurant Tobari is the Patara-Enguri/Nenskra River Confluence, the cool waters of the Patara River could be seen rushing down.

11:00 - A quick stop at the Dadiani Palace Museum, short of time we did not go in and just walked around the grounds. This is the preserved former palace of the House of Dadiani and is considered to be one of the most eminent palaces in the Caucasus.

Within the palace compound is the Zugdidi St. Virgin Mary of Vlacherna Temple. We were fortunate that a priest was performing some rites during our visit.

On July 15th of each year, during the beautiful folk festival called Vlakernoba, the Robe of the Virgin Mary is taken from the Dadiani Palace Museum, so that pilgrims can see the holy relic and worship it.

Some artwork seen with the Zugdidi St. Virgin Mary of Vlacherna Temple.

Taking a rest and admiring the Dadiani Palace Park grounds, and mixing with the locals - ladies and statue alike 😂.

A new modern building at the entrance of the Dadiani Palace Park, which, I think, houses the administrative building.

As we travelled along the Kutaisi Bypass Highway, the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains can be seen far away.

Saw this flowery 🏵️🌹🌺🌹🌷 car during a RnR stop at the Way Mart (GPS: 42.17273, 42.93338) near Terjola.

2:00pm - Near Surami, we made a quick stop for Vashya to run over to the Nazuki by Sergo stall to get some Nazuki Sweet Bread for us to try. This is a sweet Georgian cinnamon bread with raisins.

Grabbed lunch at the food court at Way Mart Skra (near Skra) along the S1 Highway (Georgia); this 537 kilometres highway connects Tbilisi to Russia near Leselidze (at the northwestern tip of the country) via Mtskheta, Gori, Kutaisi, Senaki, Zugdidi, and Gagra.

We went vegetarian; having stir-fried button mushrooms with potatoes, and Ajapsandali Stew.

4:30pm - At the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.

Located in the historic town of Mtskheta, on the northwest outskirts of Tbilisi. It is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is currently the second largest church building in Georgia, after the Holy Trinity Cathedral, but is very much older, almost a millennium old.

Artwork at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. These are mainly medieval artwork.

Souvenir stalls at the Street Market next to the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. Most of the stalls sell more or less the same things, so browse around to look for unique buys.

From here I bought a statue of a newly married young couple on a scooter. This is for my "Pairs" Collection, a collection of paired couples we get from our travels to different parts of the world.

6:30pm - Checked into our hotel, the Golden Ir-me_ni. It's the last night of our trip, tomorrow we head back home. The hotel is located withing Old Tbilisi, making it easy for us to walk around.

After a quick freshening up, we walked to the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, located not too far from our hotel. We lingered on until after the sun had set to catch nice night views of the cathedral.
Commonly known as Sameba (Georgian: სამების ლავრა for Trinity), it was consecrated on 23 November 2004 (St. George's Day). It is a relatively new cathedral but is the main and largest in the country.

Sitting on Elia Hill (which rises above the left bank of the Kura River in the historic neighbourhood of Avlabari) gives it a strategic view of Old Tbilisi, as seen in the above Google street view.

Nice collection of artwork within the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

From the cathedral we took a walk across the Baratashvili Bridge, to the newer part of town, catching a night glimpse of the city.

Don't miss walking through the Baratashvili Bridge Pedestrain Underpass, there are nice Street Art here.

For a change, we had a Japanese dinner (mostly ramen) at the Ramekai @ Orbeliani, located at Orbeliani Square.

On the way back stopped for photo ops of the Baratashvili Bridge Bronze Statues. Above is one of a loving couple, perhaps I should have carried them back for my "Pairs" Collection, hahaha!

(Note: the statues are not blushing, it's the reflection of car lights 😄)

"მე მიყვარს საქართველო!"

(That's "me miq’vars sakartvelo!" - “I Love Georgia!” in Georgian)

(For more photos of Day 14, Click Here)

This is page 14 of a 15-page blog, Click Here To Go To Title Page.

< D13: Koruldi Lakes | Go to Other Days | D15: Kuala Lumpur >

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